Jungle Freakn' Bride (29 page)

“What part after? You’re not making any sense.”

Carlie grabbed her hands. “See, they don’t just make you a bride. They change you first.”

“Into what, a new outfit?”

“No, into something not human. Or not completely, at any rate.”
Did she sound ominous enough?
She ignored the twinge of her consci
ence
as she intentionally went against Acat’s promise.
She had to for her sister and family’s own good.

Ruth narrowed her gaze
.
“When was the last time you drank some water? Show me your tongue
.
”

Carlie didn’t laugh, not now when she needed Ruth to take her serious
ly
.
“I’m not dehydrated or nuts. The tribe has found a way to change humans.”

“I really wish you’d stop talking in riddles.”

“That’s just it. I’m not. How much plainer do you want me to make it? These men aren’t human.”

“Uh, yeah, they are. I think you’ve eaten one too many jungle fruits,
s
is.”

Oh, she ate something alright, but she’d hardly call it fruit.
“I wish. I don’t know about your guys, they smell different, but mine are cats, jaguars to be exact, and they’ve changed me to be like them. And they’ll change you, too.”
She laid it all out there and got the response she
feared, yet
expected.

Fir
s
t
Ruth snickered, then
she
outright laughed. “Good thing I got here when I did. If they’ve got you believing they’re shape
-
shi
f
ting cats, then you’ve obviously lived in the jungle too long.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Bullcr –”

Ruth never finished the swearword as
Carlie, adopting a sad kitty face, or so she hoped,
let go of her
sister’s
hands and backed away.
A
s she retreated, she
called forth her feline
.
Instead of fighting the pain, she
allowed
it
to
roll through her, letting loose a
long and low scream
which her cat didn’t appreciate at all. Or so she guessed as it transitioned into a yowl of displeasure.

“Holy freakn’ cat!” Ruth scrambled back as
Carlie,
landing
on four
golden
paws
,
paced in her direction
.
“Oh damn. Oh damn. Don’t eat me.”
As Ruth
scooted on her butt across the floor
,
terror in her expression,
Carlie ordered her beast to stop toying with her sister. They’d made their point.

With a pout, her jaguar stopped
stalking and flopped to the floor
,
yet
Ruth still stared with frightened eyes and a wobbling chin.
Nudging her feline, Carlie got her to
cross
her
forelegs over
her
head and hid
e
her
eyes
, a classic move from her youth that she knew Ruth would recognize
.

Remorse
filled her sister’s face.
“Oh Carlie. I’m so sorry,”
Ruth murmured before
reversing her direction and flinging her arms around
her
furr
y
neck.
A nose tickled Carlie’s soft fur
. “Only you would stumble across some ancient tribe and get turned into a giant furball.”

A what? Brat! With a
raspy tongue
, she swiped Ruth’s
cheek. Ruth recoiled. “Eew!”

Carlie managed an amused snuffle
.

“I’m glad you think this is funny, because I’m beginning to think I’m the one going nuts.
”
Ruth giggled
suddenly
. “Oh my God, you do realize Mom’s going to hate this. You know she’s allergic to cats.”

With a chuffing sound, Carlie padded off
and despite the br
e
vity of the change and her cat’s annoyance, morphed back. S
weating
at the exertion, she
emerged
from her shift
with a low keening sound, her breaths coming hard and fast. “Fuck that hurts.”
And it did. Mental note to self
–
t
oo many shifts in a day
too
close together equaled big ouchy.

“Then why do it?”

“As if you’d have believed anything else.”
Ruth could act really blonde at times. Nothing short of seeing it with her own two eyes would have convinced her. Kind of like Carlie herself
,
once upon a time.

“True. Damn,
s
is. Is it permanent?”

“As far as I know.”

“Other than the pain, is it hard to do? How many times have you done it?”

“Enough to know it gets easier. It’s gone from unbearable to really unpleasant. But at the same time, what a rush. I mean, it’s like a whole new world when I change. Everything is so much sharper, more alive. The cat, its mind and whole perception, is on a
completely
different, more primitive wave
-
length. It’s kind of liberating.”
Damn. Carlie wanted to slap herself as she gushed about it. She was supposed to make it sound unappealing so Ruth would do anything to avoid it and go back home.

Thankfully, her sister didn’t hear the good, just the b
a
d, or so Carlie assumed by the moue of distaste on her face.
“So you’re happy they did this to you?”

Truthfully?
“Yes. No. Maybe. All of the above. None.” Carlie sighed. “I’m still figuring that part out.
” Understat
e
ment. “
What I do know is you can’t tell anyone
, a
nd I mean
anyone
,
about this. I wasn’t supposed to show you, just like I wasn’t supposed to tell you about the ritual. But I needed to talk to someone. Someone who wouldn’t cry a river or call the government on me for experiments.”
Someone she trusted.

“Well, that would depend on the price they’d pay and the credit I’d get,” Ruth quipped.

Carlie grinned and hoped Acat didn’t listen
,
else he’d probably have kittens.
“Evil sister. Figures you’d take this all in stride.”

“I don’t have much of a choice, but just so you know, I am not keeping any giant
-
sized litter boxes in my apartment.”

A
laugh
bubbled forth from Carlie
. “Oh, how I’ve missed you.”

“And me, you.” Ruth hugged her
.
“Never fear. Your secret is safe with me. I’m glad you told me because I don’t want to do the ritual. Unlike you, I don’t aspire to climb trees or lick cream out of a bowl.”

“Don’t knock the licking part.” Carlie winked.
How could she not
when the objects around here were so lickably
good
.
“But seriously, you might not get a choice. Your lovers might make you. It’s what happened to me.”

“They forced you?”

“Yeah, in a sense, but I’d rather not talk about it right now. We don’t have much time.”
She could hear the ritual starting.
The drums already playing
their ominous
rat-tat-tat
.

“So what do we do to avoid this?”

“When the winners come to get you, don’t drink anything they give you and make it clear you don’t want it. Maybe you’ll have better luck than I did.”

“Has it occurred to you the doctors back home might be able to reverse it?”

“I won’t be going to see a doctor. There is no cure, and I’m not sure I want one. Yes, I’m angry about how Acat and Chaob lied, but at the same time, I don’t hate what I’ve become. I want to explore what it means. See the world with another pair of eyes.”

The drums went silent and they both turned their heads to look at the only door leading out of the hut.

“What does that mean?”
Ruth whispered.

“The fight is about to start.”

“Joel and Kendrick?”
Carlie felt the waves of concern as they rolled off her sister. It seemed someone wasn’t as immune to a pair of men as she’d initially let on.

“Now battle for the right to take you as bride.”

A mighty snarl followed by a feline roar split the air. “What the hell was that?”

“Their challengers.”

“That didn’t sound good. We need to stop this.”

“How do you suggest we do that?” Carlie asked with an arched blonde brow. “Trust me, I tried to find a way out of this place when I was locked in here. It’s impossible.”

“But you’re like Catwoman now. Surely you can do something? Like, I don’t know, climb the walls. Gnaw through some vines. I can’t just sit here waiting to see if my guys win. What if they don’t? I won’t let some strangers rape me and change me into a pussycat. I just can’t.”
Ruth
ended her speech on a hysterical note.

And you won’t
have to
, little sister.
Carlie would
ensure
it.
Besides,
Ruth made an interesting point
. The last time she
was a guest in this suite
,
Carlie ha
d
been
human. Now…now she was so much more.
Taking a deep breath, Carlie motioned her
sister
back. “Give me some room. I’ll see what I can do.”

As it turned out, she could do a lot. The hut, while meant to keep human brides in
,
couldn’t stop a muscular jaguar intent on getting out.
Of more surprise, no one guarded the hut.

Not wanting to shift back too soon,
Carlie
padded out to the front of the prison, sniffed the air and sat down, puzzled. They were alone.
No Acat or Chaob. No warrior, nothing. Just a door locked from the outside with a bar of wood. Shifting back,
Carlie
flung the portal open, letting her sister out.

“This way,” she said in a hushed voice, leading
Ruth
to the tree with its etched foot and handholds down.

“I can’t climb that,” Ruth exclaimed.

“Then you might as well go back into the hut and wait for your new husbands because it’s the only way down,” Carlie snapped.

“Testy. Testy. What’s got your fur in a knot?”
Ruth queried as she white
-
knuckled her way down the first few trees notches.

“
Our escape seems too easy
,
w
hich makes me suspicious.”

“We broke out. What’s suspicious about that?”

“No way would they leave us unguarded.”

“Maybe they didn’t and
the guy
had to go pee.”

They both looked up at the same time, Ruth squinting
, Carlie sniffing and ready to dive if something golden came splashing down.

No sudden shower, but Carlie couldn’t help the itch of unease.
“We need to hurry.”

“Hurry where?” Ruth inquired. “You do realize we’re days away from civilization. I don’t know about you, but I doubt I could survive on my own in the jungle
and
find my way back. I needed a lot of help to get here.”

“No, we can’t escape. They’d find us before we got far. Maybe, though, we can talk some sense into someone. Or you can claim the guys you came with or something. I don’t know. I just know that you don’t want to leave something like an unexpected jungle marriage up to chance. I got lucky, but –”

“So lucky,”
Acat
purred from the darkness, “
t
hat you won’t get the punishment you deserve for interfering in the bride choice.”

Startled
– even though she’d half expected
him to pop out of nowhere
–
Carlie dropped from the
carved
ladder
.
She
landed on her feet, knees slightly bent
,
and
tossed her
hair
back. “Aha. I knew it was too easy. I should have known you skulked somewhere. And I am not apologizing for telling. She’s my sister. What did you expect me to do?”